Fan favorite Kristian Alfonso is returning to Peacock’s Days of Our Lives to help bid farewell to the character played by Bill Hayes, who died in January at 98.
Alfonso, whose DOOL character, Hope Brady, was the daughter of Hayes’ Doug Williams, was on set April 22 to shoot the tribute, as reported by TV Insider. Her episode will air Nov. 29.
“My return is very bittersweet, because it is the end of an era with Bill gone,” she told the outlet. “So to return to Days is very sad. I am appreciative that they came to me to include me in their series of shows honoring Doug and I’m very happy to see everyone, but I’m entering the studio with a heavy heart.”
“I remember my first scenes with him,” she continued. “He was very loving, very welcoming. That he was very talented and an incredible actor and an icon, that all goes without saying, but my personal relationship and my working relationship with Bill, it was home. Doing the scenes with Bill, I felt like I was with my dad because there was so much warmth and reality.”
Alfonso left DOOL in 2020 after appearing on the soap since 1983. She briefly reprised the role in 2022 for the Days offshoot Beyond Salem on Peacock.
“I feel incredibly grateful that I ever had the opportunity to be a part of such an incredible show and the legacy that it holds,” she said to TV Insider. “I’m very blessed. I’ll always be very blessed, regardless if I ever return to do more shows or finish the storyline or not. I will always be eternally grateful and so appreciative to Days of our Lives and to Ken Corday [executive producer] and the fans that kept me going.”
